Daytona 24: Tafel Racing Friday report

It has been a day of preparation, preparation and preparation for the
Tafel Racing team today. Cars 72 and 74 were readied for the race
during the morning, with only ...

It has been a day of preparation, preparation and preparation for the
Tafel Racing team today. Cars 72 and 74 were readied for the race
during the morning, with only #73 electing to take part in the early
practice session. All three cars ran in the final 45-minute practice
session of the day, using the time to bed in brake pads and discs, new
driveshafts and give the cars a thorough system check. The drivers also
used the time available to practice pit stop changeovers, fine-tuning
the choreography of the events.

Team Owner and driver in car #74, Jim Tafel, summed up the Cumming,
Georgia based team's approach to the Daytona 24.

"It's been a busy run up to the race weekend but we're in good shape.
We've got a good product with the Porsche GT3, a proven race car which
is going to carry us for 24 hours. The key of course is to stay out of
the pits. Come in for fuel, tires and driver change only and maybe a
windscreen wipe now and then. That's the type of mistake free
environment that we need to be in not just to win the race this weekend,
but to win the Championship."

One of the factors that the team can't wholly prepare for is the
variable weather conditions that are forecast for the weekend. Scotsman
Robin Liddell doesn't see this as a problem, but merely something else
that has been catered for in the team's preparations.

"We've got a reasonable amount of experience with this car in the wet
from last year. We won the Watkins Glen 6 Hours last year and that was
a race which was wet, or at least damp, for the whole time. Despite the
tire being reasonably durable it's still a tire which performs well in
damp conditions. We don't have an intermediate; it's full wet or
slicks. The nature of the full wet tire and its pattern means that it
won't survive in drying conditions so, as you don't want to make too
many stops, and keep changing backwards and forwards, you have to judge
it very carefully."